No trains ran to or from London King’s Cross this past weekend as work continued on simplifying the station’s track layout. Full service has resumed today.
The work at London Kings Cross, which began in February, is a critical part of Network Rail’s 1.2bn GBP (2.4bn euros | 2.98bn USD) East Coast Upgrade. It aims to enable more trains to enter and exit the station, reducing congestion and providing passengers with more reliable journeys.
Network Rail engineers have replaced track, overhead lines and signalling, simplified the tracks on the approach to the station and reopened a disused tunnel after 44 years to increase capacity from four to six tracks.
In total the London King’s Cross work has involved the installation of six kilometres of new track, more than 20 kilometres of overhead wires, 30 new sets of points and 50 signals.
A major milestone was reached last month when platforms 0–6 reopened and work began on platforms 7–11. This final phase of work involved the completion of platform refurbishment and further upgrades to the station’s signalling system.
At the same time, work was also carried out on a project to build a dive-under at Werrington, north of Peterborough. This will allow slower-moving freight trains to run underneath the East Coast Main Line.
“We're now approaching the home straight in this massive programme of improvements that will deliver better connected, more reliable services to passengers travelling between London and Scotland on the historic East Coast Mainline.
“We appreciate that delivering these long-term improvements requires some short-term disruption and remain extremely grateful to passengers for their continued patience.”
